Ravichandran Ashwin

“I'm actually fighting my own benchmarks in a lot of ways. The number of games that I've managed to win for my country and for myself, the number of successes I've had and the excellence I've shown is always measured up in equal parlance when I travel away from the country, which is great.”

“Once cricket is seen as a possible profession, a youngster's life can be so altered that cricket becomes second nature to him.”

“Adaptability is one of the biggest strengths that I have. To make decisions on the field, try and convince my captain to change fields, try and make him give that extra couple of overs.”

“For me to able to deliver on a consistent basis abroad there are a lot of factors beyond just me that need to go into it.”

“When I was playing Under-14s I had a bit of a problem with a pelvic slip disc. That left me bed-ridden for about six weeks.”

“Especially with athletic pubalgia and the patellar tendonitis - I used to bowl six balls and then I used to be gasping for breath. And there would be pain all over the place.”

“At one stage, I just wanted to play one Test for India. People used to say I was just a T20 bowler, a limited-overs bowler. All these tag lines were doing the rounds but I did want to make a difference.”

“Honestly I don't listen to lot of English music. I listen to lot of Bollywood music and my favourite singer is Shoaib Bhushan and my favourite musician is from down south is AR Rahman.”

“Even if I've studied all there is to study, I get a nervous and twitchy feeling before the exam. Till I get the question paper I'm nervous. This somehow gives me a little bit extra when I'm on the field. I'm able to make decisions on the field just a bit quicker.”

“I am a very sensitive person, especially when it comes to heart-to-heart conversations. I am straightforward and I expect the same from people.”

“So whenever Marnus Labuschagne steps out, he hits the ball over cow corner for an offspinner, or he hits it over mid-off. It's very rare through long-on. And he doesn't have a flat sweep, he has a lap sweep, like a paddle.”

“I have to thank batting coach Sanjay Bangar for providing valuable inputs. He gave me honest feedback about how poorly I was batting and what were the aspects I needed to focus on.”

“As a spinner, you need to be very precise in Australia. Every run you give must be on your own terms.”

“If I feel like I am being thrown under the bus, how am I supposed to get up and come for a party to enjoy the team's or team-mate's success?”

“Giving a point to a team that has not conceded an outright win is not that great an idea. When an outright result cannot be reached, the points should be shared between the two teams.”

“Whatever happens in the lower body is in direct relation to what is happening in the upper body, as far as bowling is concerned.”

“Whenever I've gone out there, like every batsman wants to get a hundred, my aim is to get a five-wicket haul.”

“At 10 o'clock every night, I take my dogs for a walk. And sometimes people do see me on the road. I actually don't bother a lot about what people think about what I am doing.”

“The mindset in India is to get an education that will secure a job, and then think about how to get a particular salary. We're used to that kind of a life, and that's how we bring up our children.”

“Since I started playing, I always wanted to pose a threat to the batsmen, so I always kept evolving.”